NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--ACGM, Íntegra Associados, Felsberg Advogados, Morrison & Foerster, João Cox (former CEO of Claro Brasil) and Mario Cesar Araujo (former CEO of TIM) (the “Team”) announced today that they are working together on a financial and operational restructuring plan in respect of the Brazilian telecommunications company Oi S.A (“Oi” or the “Company”).
Oi, one of the largest players in the Brazilian Telecom market, with over 70 million customers and more than 15,000 employees, filed for judicial recovery (“JR”) before a court in Rio de Janeiro on June 20, 2016. The Company, which is burdened by debt with a face-value in excess of US$18 billion, must now present a restructuring plan to the bankruptcy court and have it approved by a majority of creditors.
The Team encompasses a seasoned group of restructuring practitioners, including legal and financial experts who have experience in the wide-range of jurisdictions relevant to the Oi restructuring such as Brazil, the U.S., the UK and the Netherlands. Thomas Felsberg, founding partner of Felsberg Advogados, one of the most prominent bankruptcy and restructuring lawyers in Brazil, has assisted in the development of the current Brazilian bankruptcy and restructuring law. Along with Mr. Felsberg, skilled restructuring partners Paulo Campana, Fabiana Solano and a multidisciplinary team comprised of partners and associates with a wide expertise in insolvency, corporate, regulatory and litigation matters will provide assistance in all matters related to Brazilian law. The Team is complemented by multiple lawyers from Morrison & Foerster, which has one of the strongest business restructuring and insolvency groups in the legal industry, having advised on many of the most complex matters. Morrison & Foerster lawyers on the team include the Hon. James Peck, a former United States Bankruptcy Judge for the Southern District of New York, as well as Sonya Van de Graaff and Peter Declercq, both highly recognized global restructuring and insolvency lawyers who provide comprehensive counsel to distressed investors and represent formal and ad hoc creditor groups.
Particularly important to the success of the Team’s plan will be the operational restructuring, which leverages the expertise of former telecom CEOs João Cox and Mario Cesar Araujo. During João’s tenure as CEO of Claro Brazil (controlled by América Móvil, and the third largest mobile operator in Brazil), EBITDA rose from minus R$300 million to R$3.3 billion. Mario’s tenure as the CEO of TIM (controlled by Telecom Italia, and the second largest mobile operator in Brazil) was marked by a rise in the price of the firm’s ADRs from US$7.13 to US$39.65. The combined expertise of João and Mario is further enhanced by the turnaround expertise of Íntegra Associados. The São Paulo based firm of the leading Brazilian restructuring specialist Renato Carvalho Franco, has worked on some of the largest Brazilian restructurings to date, including Eneva (former MPX) and Parmalat.
New York based investment banking boutique ACGM, working alongside Íntegra Associados, has focused on the financial and capital markets aspects of the plan. ACGM’s CEO Carlos Abadi has been involved in numerous international restructuring transactions, including the Refco bankruptcy resolution and the settlement of claims related to Allied Irish Bank. In 2013 ACGM worked on the first ever pre-packaged chapter 11 debt restructuring in Latin America – Newland International Properties, Corp.
The Team seeks constructive, non-adversarial dialogue with the Company and other stakeholders, in order to deliver a successful restructuring of Oi. The plan recognizes the importance of Oi within the Brazilian telecommunications sector and the wider economy. Although Oi faces major challenges, the Team also understands the company’s strengths and growth potential.
About Íntegra Associados
Integra Associados is a leading Brazilian consultancy firm rendering advisory services on planning and implementing corporate change, including restructurings, with an experienced and hands-on team. Integra was founded in 2003 by Renato Carvalho Franco, former M&A director at Bank of America and CEO of Telesystem International Wireless in Brazil. During the last 10 years Integra has participated in several restructuring projects, with more than R$ 15 Bn in debt restructurings in Brazil. Integra has advised clients in several sectors including energy, food and beverages, auto parts forging and casting, services outsourcing, chemical distribution, wholesale distribution chains, sugar and ethanol, and consumer electronics, among others. The Integra team is comprised of a group of experienced professionals and associates with solid backgrounds in high-level company management, restructuring and corporate finance.
About Morrison & Foerster
Morrison & Foerster is a global firm of exceptional credentials. Its clients include some of the largest financial institutions, investment banks, Fortune 100, and technology and life sciences companies. The Financial Times has named the firm in its lists of most innovative law firms in North America and Asia every year that it has published its Innovative Lawyers Reports in those regions.
In the past few years, Chambers USA has honored MoFo’s Bankruptcy and IP teams with Firm of the Year awards, the Corporate/M&A team with a client service award, and the firm as a whole as Global USA Firm of the Year.
Morrison & Foerster’s Business Restructuring & Insolvency Group has one of the strongest practices in the industry and has advised on many of the most complex matters in recent years. Some of MoFo’s team members’ most recent high-profile cases include representing:
- The Dutch liquidator of the Dutch finance company OSX Leasing Group B.V., a group company in Brazilian OSX Brasil S.A.
- An ad hoc group of noteholders in the insolvencies of Lehman Brothers Treasury Company B.V. in the Netherlands and Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. in the U.S.
- The creditors’ committee in the chapter 11 case of Energy Future Holdings
- The winding-up board of LBI (formerly Landsbanki) through its cross-border restructuring and its filed composition.
About Felsberg Advogados
Felsberg Advogados is a Brazilian full-service law firm with experience in complex business transactions, such as project finance transactions, corporate restructurings, and mergers and acquisitions, and a tradition of exceptional quality and personal service.
Well-known for its work in global transactions, Felsberg Advogados has a dynamic team of professionals with extensive international exposure, including working with foreign parties and issues and sensitive to foreign cultural matters in negotiations and transactions.
Felsberg Advogados is particularly known as one of the top tier law firms for matters related to insolvency and restructuring. The firm is representing or has represented debtors, creditors and investors in some of the highest profile cases filed in Brazil, such as Parmalat, Rede Energia, OGX/OSX, OAS and Sete Brasil.
About ACGM
Founded in 1991, ACGM is an investment banking boutique which specializes in three core areas, Emerging Markets, Financial Institutions and Restructuring & Special Situations. By focusing on these three areas of expertise, ACGM has built a team of independent specialists–Fluent in Finance®–who serve as powerful advocates for clients, focused on protecting their financial interests and delivering practical, high-value financial solutions. The ACGM team prides itself on its ability to execute difficult and groundbreaking transactions, even in situations where the structuring complexities and executional challenges would have thwarted others.
ACGM’s experienced team works on a range of transactions, including: Mergers & Acquisitions, Debt & Equity Capital Markets issues and Recapitalizations. It caters to a global client base which includes companies, governments and financial institutions across North America, Latin America, Europe and the Middle East. The firm’s specialization approach means that it only takes on engagements if they fall within one or more of its core areas of expertise, allowing it to assign a strong team to every engagement, providing clients with the attention and intellectual capital they deserve. The firm’s clients appreciate having direct access to a senior banker 24/7; they value the discretion of ACGM’s smaller team and are relieved of the conflict of interest concerns inherent in working with larger investment banks, which are often look to cross-sell other products and services.
The firm’s investment banking practice encompasses a sales and trading capability which provides ACGM with the ability to distribute securities which the firm originates for clients and to execute large block trades on their behalf. This execution capability adds value to ACGM’s existing advisory work and exists solely to support advisory client mandates. In order to prevent conflicts of interest and to ensure the independence of the firm’s advice, ACGM does not conduct proprietary trading or manage investments.
For further information about ACGM please visit www.acgm.com